


to be

by ObscureReference



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alcohol, Drunkenness, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-17
Updated: 2017-05-17
Packaged: 2018-11-01 22:40:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10931496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObscureReference/pseuds/ObscureReference
Summary: “There,” Odin said to himself. His hand brushed Leo’s arm as he stood up. Leo caught his wrist before he could pull away.“Odin—” Leo felt lightheaded. “What’s your real name?”





	to be

**Author's Note:**

> Me: What if you wrote an actual cohesive romance for once?  
> Me @ Me: What if you wrote Leo thinking about Odin's past again even though you basically already did that and Niles probably thinks about it way more than Leo ever does?
> 
> You might catch hints of Odin/Leo or Niles/Leo here, but they're so faint I didn't bother tagging anything.

Leo was drunk.

He had been insisting—perhaps a little more loudly than social conduct called for—that he was _not_ drunk, if only to save face. Most everyone had ignored him. Xander and Camilla had smiled slyly at him, and Niles had said, “Of course not, milord,” in a rather patronizing voice until Leo had finally stopped insisting.

It was his birthday. The fact that it was his birthday probably had something to do with how everyone kept offering drinks to him all night, telling him to “loosen up” and “relax.”

Leo did not often drink. He usually didn’t enjoy it. But everyone seemed to be having such a good time at the party that it had seemed remiss to refuse. Getting a little tipsy once every millennia hadn’t seemed like a terrible idea at the time.

Granted, he had blown past “a little tipsy” and had landed safely within the “completely hammered” zone about an hour ago. But he was trying to ignore that.

At least the night was almost over with. He’d a good enough time with everyone else, but now, with Odin supporting his weight on one side and Niles on the other, Leo was ready for the day to be over.

“Alack! Do not fret, milord!” Odin’s voice was much, _much_ too loud in Leo’s ear. “We have almost arrived at your chamber of rest!”

“Odin,” Niles said almost softly to Leo’s right. _“Hush.”_

Odin dipped his head in apology. But the next time he opened his mouth, his volume had not decreased in the slightest. Leo would have rolled his eyes fondly if the idea of moving any more than necessary had not been so unappealing.

When they made it to Leo’s bedroom, Odin all but kicked the door in. Leo flinched at the noise.

Niles hissed something at him. Odin loudly whispered something back, but Leo was paying much more attention to the bed that sat only a few feet away than to any of their bickering.

Niles let go of Leo’s arm, veering off to the side table for… something. Leo’s head swam. With Niles gone, Odin wrapped his arm around Leo’s waist, taking on more of his weight.

“Don’t worry, milord,” Odin said, his voice blessedly quieter than before. “You’ll feel refreshed in the morning.”

He led Leo over to the bed and set him down surprisingly gently. Getting Leo’s boots off took a minute of fumbling. When Odin reached for his cape, Leo batted him away.

“’s fine,” Leo slurred. Actually _slurred_. He was never going to live this down.

“Are you sure?” Odin asked.

Niles was pouring water into a cup. He briefly glanced in their direction. “You might regret it in the morning.”

He hummed in response. It would not have been the first time Leo had slept in his clothes. It would be the first time doing so with a hangover, but he was willing to put off the misery until the morning.

Odin laid a hand on Leo’s shoulder. “Come now, milord, let’s lay down.”

Leo let himself be pushed onto the mattress. Odin’s face swam in his vision.

Leo blinked.

Odin.

Odin was. Loud. Boisterous.

He liked things for their aesthetic; he had all but admitted to Leo that he’d become a dark mage because it was “cool.” Because that’s what he envisioned the perfect background of an antihero to be. His hands were calloused like he’d been a swordsman once, but he’d never admitted to being a swordsman to Leo. He and Niles bickered, but they made a good team. They read each other well. Together, they read Leo best.

Odin had never rejected or failed any task Leo had given him, no matter how ridiculous or impossible.

And Leo knew next to nothing about him.

He’d said once that he trusted Odin with his life, and that was true. His past didn’t matter to Leo. Niles had told him everything about _his_ past not long after they’d met, and Leo was fine with it. He’d caught Niles literally robbing the castle in the middle of the night, and he’d still wanted Niles for a retainer. Past history was not a deterrent to Leo.

Odin didn’t have to tell him anything he didn’t want to. Leo trusted him with his life, after all. Odin had proved well over what kind of man he was.

Still, there was something…

Leo blinked again. He’d gotten lost in his own head. At some point the covers on the bed had been pulled back, and now Odin was pulling them up to Leo’s chest.

He looked around. Niles was at the door, speaking to somebody just out of Leo’s view. He turned away and shut the behind him, a vial of something in his hand. He caught Leo’s eye and smirked, tipping the vial in Leo’s direction. Medicine for the morning, no doubt.

“There,” Odin said to himself. His hand brushed Leo’s arm as he stood up. Leo caught his wrist before he could pull away.

“Odin—” Leo felt lightheaded. “What’s your real name?”

Even drunk, it was obvious how Odin tensed under his fingers. Wherever Niles was at Leo’s bedside, just out of Leo’s line of sight, he paused.

Odin was looking at him, his face unusually blank. It was a purposeful look. Evaluating. Something in Leo’s chest twisted at the thought that _he_ had become something Odin had to be wary of. He’d made a mistake.

Odin took an audible breath. “Is that an order, milord?”

Leo shook his head.

“No,” he said, letting himself relax into the pillows. His grip on Odin’s fingers had gone lax, but Odin did not yank his arm away. They stayed there, connected, tense. Leo’s fingers wrapped loosely around Odin’s wrist, Odin stiff but unwavering, and Niles watching it all with an eye that saw too much.

“No,” Leo said again. “Not an order. Your name doesn’t matter. I trust you.”

Odin cocked his head to the side. He glanced away, at Niles, but Leo’s head swam too much to follow the look. He was going to fall asleep soon enough.

His retainers knew it, too. He heard Niles shuffling off to his left, and soon enough the archer’s callused fingers were sliding under Leo’s neck, prompting him to sit up.

“Come now, milord,” Niles said, his voice a thick, teasing drawl. “Drink some water before you go passing out on us.”

Niles held a cup of water to his lips.

Leo drank. He felt childish.

When all the water was gone, Leo said, “I didn’t—I wasn’t—”

His tongue was too useless to form coherent words anymore. Stupid, drunk Leo. He cursed himself.

Niles chucked, amused, and Leo felt his face grow hotter. He brushed Leo’s bangs out of his face.

“Relax, milord,” Niles said. “Get some sleep.”

Leo barely managed to bite back his groan. Apparently it didn’t work as well as he’d thought, though, as Niles and even Odin chuckled.

“Sorry,” Leo said again, curt. Embarrassed. He flopped back onto the sheets and squeezed his eyes shut, wishing his head would stop spinning and willing himself to fall asleep. If the gods were kind, his retainers would act like nothing happening in the morning. Nothing really had anyway, besides Leo making an ass out of himself. Nothing new there.

He waited for the sounds of Niles and Odin shuffling away but none came. Leo frowned.

“Milord,” Odin said.

Leo grunted. Partly because he was finished with this evening, partly because he was possibly going to throw up.

Another beat of silence passed. If Odin wasn’t going to leave, Niles wouldn’t either. Leo briefly debated making it an order, but his inability to open his mouth without making an even bigger fool of himself won out.

After an eternity of feeling eyes on him, he heard Odin sigh.

“Owain.”

It was quiet. Soft. Leo wanted to open his eyes and look at what kind of expression Odin wore, but the churning in his stomach had gotten worse. He kept them shut.

“That’s my real name,” Odin said.

 _Owain._ Leo turned the name over in his head. It wasn’t so different from Odin, really.

What was Niles doing? How had he reacted? Niles had never complained after he’d returned that first night with the news that Odin and his siblings’ other retainers had appeared like ghosts without a past, but Leo knew it had always bothered him.

“Goodnight, milord. Niles.”

Leo risked cracking open an eye, but Odin was already turning away and walking out. Niles, never one to miss a thing, appeared on Leo’s other side and caught his eye. The look on his face was indecipherable.

Leo closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, Niles was gone as well, the sound of the door catching on the latch the only echo of his presence.

 _Owain_ , Leo thought. It was a fine name.

So was Odin.

Leo pressed his face into his pillow and breathed out. He was going to have quite the migraine in the morning.

**Author's Note:**

> At some point I'm gonna write an actual romance here. When I can finally write something with a cohesive beginning and ending. 
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment below or hmu at my [tumblr!](http://someobscurereference.tumblr.com/)


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